Bolton boss Phil Parkinson on Aaron Wilbraham critics

PHIL Parkinson reckons Aaron Wilbraham has got a big part to play in Wanderers’ Championship run-in.

Saturday’s goal-scorer at Hillsborough has had a tough time winning over the Whites fans since his arrival from Bristol City last summer.

Wilbraham has started one league game for Parkinson this season, with another 18 appearances off the bench. His total game time in the Championship is just 207 minutes.

But the 38-year-old is the only target man at Wanderers’ disposal since Gary Madine’s sale to Cardiff City – and Parkinson is desperate to see Bolton fans give the veteran front man a break.

“It frustrates me, I have to be honest,” he said.

“When Aaron came here I said we had a couple of roles for him. I told him not to expect to play every week but I wanted him to be a role model for Gary Madine, help him learn the position more and we’ve sold him for £5-6million and he’s played a part in that.

“The big men in football, especially when they are 38, are not £5m strikers, are always the ones the supporters get at. It’s been that way right through the history of football.

“But what the supporters and everyone else doesn’t see is what he offers us around the building and I think he has got a role to play in this run-in.”

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